Department News
Department News
MSDFT Calculations Reveal a Quantum-Switch Mechanism in Photosynthesis
Posted
Professor Jiali Gao and his collaborators have recently published a new paper in Nature Plants that explores problems and solutions related to photosynthesis and bioengineered plants.
A trio of papers highlights utility of synthetic probes for exploring protein-lipid modification
Posted
The Distefano group in the University of Minnesota Department of Chemistry is making strides in protein-lipid research.
Bhagi-Damodaran group researchers discover how electrostatics control active site assembly and reactivity in iron enzymes that directly halogenate small molecules
Posted
McKnight Land-Grant Professor Ambika Bhagi-Damodaran and her research group are making strides in sustainable enzyme research.
Professor Ambika Bhagi-Damodaran selected for McKnight Land-Grant Professorship award
Posted
Assistant Professor Ambika Bhagi-Damodaran has been awarded the 2023-25 McKnight Land-Grant Professorship. The award is designed to advance the careers of highly promising junior faculty members who have the potential to make significant contributions to their departments and to their scholarly fields. The professorship research award amount of $50,000 over two years will support Prof. Bhagi-Damodaran’s ongoing research into molecular engineering of iron enzymes for new therapeutics and sustainable catalysis.
Professor Courtney Roberts receives NSF Career Award for group’s catalysis research
Posted
Assistant Professor Courtney Roberts has received a National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award to support the ongoing catalysis research of the Roberts Group. The award amount of $770,000 will support the group’s development of new catalytic methods, as well as equitable higher education initiatives.
Professor Christy Haynes delivers TEDxMinneapolis talk: “How nanoparticles can help solve the global food crisis”
Posted
This fall, Professor Christy Haynes delivered a TEDxMinneapolis talk on a key solution to food insecurity. Her talk, “How nanoparticles can help solve the global food crisis,” outlines the Haynes Group’s research on the positive effects of silicic acid on agricultural outcomes.
Roberts Group awarded $1.9M National Institutes of Health grant for aryne difunctionalization research
Posted
The Roberts Group, led by Assistant Professor Courtney Roberts, has been awarded a Maximizing Investigators' Research Award (MIRA) from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for their continuing catalysis research in the area of aryne difunctionalization reactivity. The award amount of $1,874,339 will be distributed over 5 years to support the ongoing project here at the University of Minnesota.
Organovanadium compounds research featured on front cover of journal
Posted
Work on unprecedented organovanadium compounds discovered in the laboratory of Professor Emeritus John Ellis has been selected for the front cover of Acta Crystallographica C, Structural chemistry.
Chemistry contributes to special issue on chemical safety education
Posted
The Department of Chemistry has a strong presence in the January Journal of Chemical Education's special issue, Chemical Safety Education: Methods, Culture, and Green Chemistry.
Researchers discover new way to deliver DNA-based therapies for diseases
Posted
University of Minnesota Twin Cities researchers in the labs of Professor Renee Frontiera and Professor Theresa Reineke have created a new polymer to deliver DNA and RNA-based therapies for diseases. For the first time in the industry, the researchers were able to see exactly how polymers interact with human cells when delivering medicines into the body. This discovery opens the door for more widespread use of polymers in applications like gene therapy and vaccine development.